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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | The Philanthrobabble Generator: "Thanks to the Philanthrobabble Generator (PBG), an innovative and impactful component of NPQ’s capacity building toolbox, you will never again have to actually think for yourself when crafting a grant proposal. This is your handy dandy one-stop shop for pre-fab phrases of sectoral jargon in current use. And they sure seem like they should mean something!"

The company called Solve This a crowdsourcing solution for technology challenges faced by nonprofits and NGOs, or non-government organizations.

'We often hear from all the NGOs and nonprofits that they would love to have our help in thinking through the application of technology to some of the very challenging issues they’re working on,' said Pamela Passman, corporate vice president for Microsoft corporate affairs. 'What we’ve done with Imagine Cup Solve This is provide a platform for our NGOs and U.N. organizations so they can submit applicat"

There is also plenty of support for cause marketing as consumers continue to meld giving and shopping, especially during the holidays. Nevertheless, long standing nonprofit campaigns with top of the mind recognition by consumers even beat out cause-related marketing by leading brands."

Donations, deductions and the deficit: "But maybe the not-so-altruistic truth is that many people do give to charity because they get something in return. Since 1917, our tax code has allowed individuals who donate to charitable and certain other nonprofit organizations to receive a tax deduction for their gifts. The deduction, for those who itemize, can be a great incentive for donations. However, it comes with a cost to the federal bottom line."

﻿A Frozen Plunge For Charity - Port Jefferson, NY Patch: "On Saturday hundreds of people came out to brave the cold weather and the even colder water to take part in the first ever Polar Bear Plunge at Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai to raise money for Special Olympics. Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko and Brookhaven Town ﻿Councilwoman Jane Bonner were there and both took the plunge for charity along with hundreds of other plungers and spectators."

Those who are not employed by a state agency may be surprised to learn that during difficult economic times, as well as periods of greater prosperity, thousands of state employees have consistently reached deep into their pockets to donate millions of dollars to charities."

My Sunday column is about charitable contributions, particularly by Christians, Jews and Muslims, that are well-intentioned but poorly thought out — and thus not nearly as effective as they might be. This is of course also a problem with secular contributions, but we’re entering a season for religious giving and I think this is a particular problem for religious charities because of a false assumption that a charity that shares one’s faith also shares one’s values and bona fides."

The person donated 1,000 turkeys, allowing the Center for Food Action to provide Thanksgiving dinner baskets to most, if not all, of the 3,800 families in Bergen and Passaic counties who requested them."